Rhodesia secured for Great Britain.
of a Boer trek north of the Limpopo. Hunters and explorers had reported in eulogistic terms on the rich goldfields and healthy plateau lands of Matabeleland and Mashonaland, over both of which countries a powerful chief, Lobengula, claimed authority. There were many suitors for Lobengula's favours; but on the 11th of February 1888 he signed a treaty with J. S. Moffat, the assistant commissioner in Bechuanaland, the effect of which was to place all his territory under British protection. Both the Portuguese and the Transvaal Boers were chagrined at this extension of British influence. A number of Boers attempted unsuccessfully to trek into the country, and Portugal opposed her ancient claims to the new treaty. She contended that Lobengula's authority did not extend over Mashonaland, which she claimed as part of the Portuguese province of Sofala.
Meanwhile preparations were being actively made by British capitalists for the exploitation of the mineral and other resources of Lobengula's territories. Two rival syndicates obtained, or claimed to have obtained, concessions from Lobengula; but in the summer of 1889 Cecil Rhodes succeeded in amalgamating the conflicting interests, and on the 29th of October of that year the British government granted a charter to the British South Africa Company (see RHODESIA.) The first article of the charter declared that ``the principal field of the operations'' of the company ``shall be the region of South Africa lying immediately to the north of British Bechuanaland, and to the north and west of the South African Republic, and to the west of the Portuguese dominions.'' No time was lost in making preparations for effective occupation. On the advice of F. C. Selous it was determined to despatch an expedition to eastern Mashonaland by a new route, which would avoid the Matabele country. This plan was carried out in the summer of 1890, and, thanks to the rapidity with which the column moved and Selous's intimate knowledge of the country, the British flag was, on the 11th of September, hoisted at a spot on the Makubusi river, where the town of Salisbury now stands, and the country taken possession of in the name of Queen Victoria. Disputes with the Portuguese ensued, and there were several frontier incidents which for a time embittered the relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, north of the Zambezi, the Portuguese were making desperate but futile attempts to repair the neglect
Anglo-Portuguese disputes in Central Africa.
of centuries by hastily organized expeditions and the hoisting of flags. In 1888 an attempt to close the Zambezi to British vessels was frustrated by the firmness of Lord Salisbury. In a despatch to the British minister at Lisbon, dated the 25th of June 1888, Lord Salisbury, after brushing aside the Portuguese claims founded on doubtful discoveries three centuries old, stated the British case in a few sentences:—
It is (he wrote) an undisputed point that the recent discoveries of the English traveller, Livingstone, were followed by organized attempts on the part of English religious and commercial bodies to open up and civilize the districts surrounding and adjoining the lake. Many British settlements have been established, the access to which from the sea is by the rivers Zambezi and Shire. Her Majesty's government and the British public are much interested in the welfare of these settlements. Portugal does not occupy, and has never occupied, any portion of the lake, nor of the Shire; she has neither authority nor influence beyond the confluence of the Shire and Zambezi, where her interior custom-house, now withdrawn, was placed by the terms of the Mozambique Tariff of 1877.
In 1889 it became known to the British government that a considerable Portuguese expedition was being organized under the command of Major Serpa Pinto, for operating in the Zambezi region. In answer to inquiries addressed to the Portuguese government, the foreign minister stated that the object of the expedition was to visit the Portuguese settlements on the upper Zambezi. The British government was, even so late as 1889, averse from declaring a formal protectorate over the Nyasa region; but early in that year H. H. (afterwards Sir Harry) Johnston was sent out to Mozambique as British consul, with instructions to travel in the interior and report on the troubles that had arisen with the Arabs on Lake Nyasa and with the Portuguese. The discovery by D. J. Rankin in 1889 of a navigable mouth of the Zambezi—the Chinde—and the offer by Cecil Rhodes of a subsidy of L. 10,000 a year from the British South Africa Company, removed some of the objections to a protectorate entertained by the British government; but Johnston's instructions were not to proclaim a protectorate unless circumstances compelled him to take that course. To his surprise Johnston learnt on his arrival at the Zambezi that Major Serpa Pinto's expedition had been suddenly deflected to the north. Hurrying forward, Johnston overtook the Portuguese expedition and warned its leader that any attempt to establish political influence north of the Ruo river would compel him to take steps to protect British interests. On arrival at the Ruo, Major Serpa Pinto returned to Mozambique for instructions, and in his absence Lieutenant Coutinho crossed the river, attacked the Makololo chiefs and sought to obtain possession of the Shire highlands by a coup de main. John Buchanan, the British vice-consul, lost no time in declaring the country under British protection, and his action was subsequently confirmed by Johnston on his return from a treaty-making expedition on Lake Nyasa. On the news of these events reaching Europe the British government addressed an ultimatum to Portugal, as the result of which Lieutenant Coutinho's action was disavowed, and he was ordered to withdraw the Portuguese forces south of the Ruo. After prolonged negotiations, a convention was signed between Great Britain and Portugal on the 20th of August 1890, by which Great Britain obtained a broad belt of territory north of the Zambezi, stretching from Lake Nyasa on the east, the southern end of Tanganyika on the north, and the Kabompo tributary of the Zambezi on the west; while south of the Zambezi Portugal retained the right bank of the river from a point ten miles above Zumbo, and the western boundary of her territory south of the river was made to coincide roughly with the 33rd degree of east longitude. The publication of the convention aroused deep resentment in Portugal, and the government, unable to obtain its ratification by the chamber of deputies, resigned. In October the abandonment of the convention was accepted by the new Portuguese ministry as a fait accompli; but on the 14th of November the two governments signed an agreement for a modus vivendi, by which they engaged to recognize the territorial limits indicated in the convention of 20th August ``in so far that from the date of the present agreement
British and Portuguese spheres defined.
to the termination thereof neither Power will make treaties, accept protectorates, nor exercise any act of sovereignty within the spheres of influence assigned to the other party by the said convention.'' The breathing-space thus gained enabled feeling in Portugal to cool down, and on the 11th of June 1891 another treaty was signed, the ratifications being exchanged on the 3rd of July, As already stated, this is the main treaty defining the British and Portuguese spheres both south and north of the Zambezi. It contained many other provisions relating to trade and navigation, providing, inter alia, a maximum transit duty of 3% on imports and exports crossing Portuguese territories on the east coast to the British sphere, freedom of navigation of the Zambezi and Shire for the ships of all nations, and stipulations as to the making of railways, roads and telegraphs. The territorial readjustment effected was slightly more favourable to Portugal than that agreed upon by the 1890 convention. Portugal was given both banks of the Zambezi to a point ten miles west of Zumbo—the farthest settlement of the Portuguese on the river. South of the Zambezi the frontier takes a south and then an east course till it reaches the edge of the continental plateau, thence running, roughly, along the line of 33 deg. E. southward to the north-eastern frontier of the Transvaal. Thus by this treaty Portugal was left in the possession of the coast-lands, while Great Britain maintained her right to Matabele and Mashona lands. The boundary between the Portuguese sphere of influence on the west coast and the British sphere of influence north of the Zambezi was only vaguely indicated; but it was to be drawn in such a manner as to leave the Barotse country within the British sphere, Lewanika, the paramount chief of the Marotse, claiming that his territory extended much farther to the west than was admitted by the Portuguese. In August 1903 the question what were the limits of the Barotse kingdom was referred to the arbitration of the king of Italy. By his award, delivered in June 1905, the western limit of the British sphere runs from the northern frontier of German South-West Africa up the Kwando river to 22 deg. E., follows that meridian north to 13 deg. S., then runs due east to 24 deg. E., and then north again to the frontier of the Congo State.
Before the conclusion of the treaty of June 1891 with Portugal, the British government had made certain arrangements for the administration of the large area north of the Zambezi reserved to British influence. On the 1st of February Sir Harry Johnston was appointed imperial commissioner in Nyasaland, and a fortnight later the British South Africa Company intimated a desire to extend its operations north of the Zambezi. Negotiations followed, and the field of operations of the Chartered Company was, on the 2nd of April 1891, extended so as to cover (with the exception of Nyasaland) the whole of the British sphere of influence north of the Zambezi (now known as Northern Rhodesia). On the 14th of May a formal protectorate was declared over Nyasaland, including the Shire highlands and a belt of territory extending along the whole of the western shore of Lake Nyasa. The name was changed in 1893 to that of the British Central Africa Protectorate, for which designation was substituted in 1907 the more appropriate title of Nyasaland Protectorate.
At the date of the assembling of the Berlin conference the German government had notified that the coast-line on the
Germany's share of South Africa.
south-west of the continent, from the Orange river to Cape Frio, had been placed under German protection. On the 13th of April 1885 the German South-West Africa Company was constituted under an order of the imperial cabinet with the rights of state sovereignty, including mining royalties and rights, and a railway and telegraph monopoly. In that and the following years the Germans vigorously pursued the business of treaty-making with the native chiefs in the interior; and when, in July 1890, the British and German governments came to an agreement as to the limits of their respective spheres of influence in various parts of Africa, the boundaries of German South-West Africa were fixed in their present position. By Article III. of this agreement the north bank of the Orange river up to the point of its intersection by the 20th degree of east longitude was made the southern boundary of the German sphere of influence. The eastern boundary followed the 20th degree of east longitude to its intersection by the 22nd parallelof south latitude, then ran eastwards along that parallel to the point of its intersection by the 21st degree of east longitude. From that point it ran northwards along the last-named meridian to the point of its intersection by the 18th parallel of south latitude, thence eastwards along that parallel to the river Chobe or Kwando, and along the main channel of that river to its junction with the Zambezi, where it terminated. The northern frontier marched with the southern boundary of Portuguese West Africa. The object of deflecting the eastern boundary near its northern termination was to give Germany access by her own territory to the upper waters of the Zambezi, and it was declared that this strip of territory was at no part to be less than 20 English miles in width.
To complete the survey of the political partition of Africa south of the Zambezi, it is necessary briefly to refer to the events
Fate of the Dutch Republics.
connected with the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. In October 1885 the British government made an agreement with the New Republic, a small community of Boer farmers who had in 1884-85 seized part of Zululand and set up a government of their own, defining the frontier between the New Republic and Zululand; but in July 1888 the New Republic was incorporated in the South African Republic. In a convention of July-August 1890 the British government and the government of the South African Republic confirmed the independence of Swaziland, and on the 8th of November 1893 another convention was signed with the same object; but on the 19th of December 1894 the British government agreed to the South African Republic exercising ``all rights and powers of protection, legislation, jurisdiction and administration over Swaziland and the inhabitants thereof,'' subject to certain conditions and provisions, and to the non-incorporation of Swaziland in the Republic. In the previous September Pondoland had been annexed to Cape Colony; on the 23rd of April 1895 Tongaland was declared by proclamation to be added to the dominions of Queen Victoria, and in December 1897 Zululand and Tongaland, or Amatongaland, were incorporated with the colony of Natal. The history of the events that led up to the Boer War of 1899-1902 cannot be recounted here (see TRANSVAAL, History), but in October 1899 the South African Republic and the Orange Free State addressed an ultimatum to Great Britain and invaded Natal and Cape Colony. As a result of the military operations that followed, the Orange Free State was, on the 28th of May 1900, proclaimed by Lord Roberts a British colony under the name ``Orange River Colony,'' and the South African Republic was on the 25th of October 1900 incorporated in the British empire as the ``Transvaal Colony.'' In January 1903 the districts of Vryheid (formerly the New Republic), Utrecht and part of the Wakkerstroom district, a tract of territory comprising in all about 7000 sq. m., were transferred from the Transvaal colony to Natal. In 1907 both the Transvaal and Orange River Colony were granted responsible government.
On the east coast the two great rivals were Germany and Great Britain. Germany on the 30th of December 1886, and Great
Anglo-German rivalry in East Africa.
Britain on the 11th of June 1891, formally recognized the Rovuma river as the northern boundary of the Portuguese sphere of influence on that coast; but it was to the north of that river, over the vast area of East or East Central Africa in which the sultan of Zanzibar claimed to exercise suzerainty, that the struggle between the two rival powers was most acute. The independence of the sultans of Zanzibar had been recognized by the governments of Great Britain and France in 1862, and the sultan's authority extended almost uninterruptedly along the coast of the mainland, from Cape Delgado in the south to Warsheik on the north—a stretch of coast more than a thousand miles long—though to the north the sultan's authority was confined to certain ports. In Zanzibar itself, where Sir John Kirk, Livingstone's companion in his second expedition, was British consul-general, British influence was, when the Berlin conference met, practically supreme, though German traders had established themselves on the island and created considerable commercial interests. Away from the coasts the limits and extent of the sultan's authority were far from being clearly defined. The sultanhimself claimed that it extended as far as Lake Tanganyika, but the claim did not rest on any very solid ground of effective occupation. The little-known region of the Great Lakes had for some time attracted the attention of the men who were directing the colonial movement in Germany; and, as has been stated, a small band of pioneers actually landed on the mainland opposite Zanzibar in November 1884, and made their first ``treaty'' with the chief of Mbuzini on the 19th of that month Pushing up the Wami river the three adventurers reached the Usagara country, and concluded more ``treaties,'' the net result being that when, in the middle of December, Karl Peters returned to the coast he brought back with him documents which were claimed to concede some 60,000 sq. m. of country to the German Colonization Society. Peters hurried back to Berlin, and on the 17th of February 1885 the German emperor issued a ``Charter of Protection'' by which His Majesty accepted the suzerainty of the newly-acquired territory, and ``placed under our Imperial protection the territories in question.'' The conclusion of these treaties was, on the 6th of March, notified to the British government and to the sultan of Zanzibar. Immediately on receipt of the notification the sultan telegraphed an energetic protest to Berlin, alleging that the places placed under German protection had belonged to the sultanate of Zanzibar from the time of his fathers. The German consul-general refused to admit the sultan's claims, and meanwhile agents of the German society were energetically pursuing the task of treaty-making. The sultan (Seyyid Bargash) despatched a small force to the disputed territory, which was subsequently withdrawn, and in May sent a more imposing expedition under the command of General Lloyd Mathews, the commander-in-chief of the Zanzibar army, to the Kilimanjaro district, in order to anticipate the action of German agents. Meanwhile Lord Granville, then at the British Foreign Office, had